FOXBORO – On the Patriots’ third offensive play of the night, Josh Boyce had a golden opportunity. Third-and-8, lined up against man coverage on the right boundary, Boyce was the most experienced wideout on the field and the one Tom Brady targeted. Boyce ran a comeback right at the sticks and Brady threw a bullet. It came in high but catchable. And it doinked off Boyce’s hands.
Incomplete was how most of the throws to Boyce ended up. He was targeted 11 times Thursday night against Green Bay and only two were complete for a total of 19 yards. All the incompletions weren’t as catchable as that first one. And the interception thrown by Jimmy Garoppolo on a pass directed to Boyce came when he appeared to get jostled before the ball arrived. But it was a disappointing performance from the third-year receiver who had a great chance to show he’s made strides to get himself off the roster bubble.
With Julian Edelman, Aaron Dobson, Brandon LaFell and Brian Tyms down and Danny Amendola only out there for a cameo, Boyce was the most tenured Patriot out there. Garoppolo treated Boyce that way, going to him repeatedly but getting precious little return.
Boyce wasn’t available after the game, but Garoppolo was asked about the number of times he targeted Boyce.
“He is experienced,” Garoppolo pointed out. “He's been in the system for a while now.”
Garoppolo later added, “I haven't really looked at the numbers of who I targeted and all that stuff, but he was running good routes tonight. When you get a matchup you like, sometimes you go to it.”
Boyce has been decent – not brilliant – in training camp practices. He seems to be where he’s supposed to be, catches most of the stuff he should. But at this point, the former fourth-rounder should be at a higher level. He didn’t make the team coming out of camp last year and was re-signed to the practice squad.
New England Patriots
The clock is ticking on him.
He’s got Garoppolo’s faith, though.
“J.B. is a good player out there,” Garoppolo insisted. “He's very athletic, quick, fast. He's got a lot of tools in his tool belt. I missed him on a couple of those deep balls. I was a little upset about those. You've got to take advantage of those really.”
There will be plenty of chances for Boyce to make an impact next week in West Virginia when the Patriots practice and then play against the Saints. After that, though, the other wideouts will likely be coming back and Boyce’s chances could diminish. He had a lot of chances on Thursday. He just didn’t do much with them.